Means for handling drop bottom containers



15, 1938* v 4G. c. WOODRUFF 2,113,162

MEANS FOR HANDLING DROP BOTTOM CONTAINER Filed Oct. 5, 1936 3 Shets-Sheet 1 g af INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

arch 15, 1938. G. c. WOODRUFF 2,111,162

MEANS FOR HANDLING DROP BOTTOM CONTAINERS v Filed Oct. 5, 1936 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY.

March 15, 1938.

G. c. WOODRUFF 2,111,162

MEANS FOR HANDLING DROP BOTTOM CONTAINERS Filgd oct, 5, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 IN VENTOR.

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ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 15, 1938 1 t STATES. PATENT orrrce LIEANSFOR HANDLING DROP BOTTOM" CONTAINERS Graham 0. Woodruff, Bronxville, N. Y., assignor to. TheL. C. L..Crporation, a corporation of Delaware Applicationloctoberr 5, 1936, Seriali No; 104,095

2 Glaims. (Cl; 212-11) This invention: relates-to novel; and: improved connection: with which; my: improved; handling means for handling drop-bottomcontainers, such means may: be employed.

as drop bottom-containers adapted'for transpor- Fig. 5, israa view. partly in section-and partlyin tation on container cars, andparticularly to drop side elevation of the; container shown; inzFi 5 bottom. containers ofxthatv type designed. to be Referringnow more: particularly 0 t e d aw: 5

raised, lowered'andimoved'from pointItopoint-by gs', d s container- Of the p the action. of: a: cranewhich also serves toconr h ham yrb 0f:r n l r,.0bn r c'- trolthe action ofthe: c ntainen-dr d r tangular; or; other suitable; form. This container The -means ordinarily, employed inconnection is. f lly p n r. pr v d d w h. a fi lin p nin with, crane mechanisms, far-handling such: 0011- at itsktop for; introduction, 0f? the lading, which 10- tainers in a satisfactory. manner requires-the use openingimay Closedi not y Suitable ofid ubl li one-..to.raj se.andlbweythe or doors. The; container is operr at its bottom tamer and the other. to control. the 1001's. It for;di'scharg.e-:0f; the-.ladingrandiis providedwvith i h d ble i many. ki of. k, hinged dropidoors tfonholding the-.ladingcon- 15 where single line cranes are employed, as, for. fined until? is desiified. dump and then 15 exampleinhandling open; hearth furnace comdumping. thewaimee ChaiHSIOr cab es are allmodities; to provide a= means whereby alloperhed tOithese doors and-pa s-upw r ly through ations: of raising; lowering and'moving the conguide n t0 thetop' of h Container, tainers from: point; to point, and including thei pl fi ends are p ov de W work of controllingfihe cti of th d may attaching eyes; 5 01: the; like; At; the corners of; 20

be performed by t Sing1e line; r i 1 thecontainen at its top;areproyidedliftingxlinks crane; t Gantrydmm cram, commonly 6: In the-respects noted the-container; may acd' a t of. t equipment many pen cord: in.-;construction. with that disclosed in. my. h th fumaceplantg copending application for patent Serial No..

handling means. for in connection, t or; suit-able construction; The; housings 4 maysingle: crane and drop d type: of t be arranged; either on-the inside of the-container container whereby all the operations specified theflutsid'e aSIJShOWH- beperfonned by manipulation of the single; I. designates an overhead. traveling crane; of 30 line of such acrane.

Another b t ofthetinventionisto single, suspending and control line 8 controlled handling means of the'character set forth which in Operationbythe-clane line ind ngand 1111.- is of simple construction and may be used in con- Windingmechanism- This line p ds f m. t t a lift t container of general and ismovable; with the crane; carriage mount- One object of my. invention is to provide a 23,742, filediJll-ne 2'17, 1935,1017 beeofzany q e the: general type described, that. is, onehaving a.

Service t t t modification of t com ed, on, the; traveling crane; bridge, and means, in.

t m Structure accordancewith my; invention, are provided: for

w these and othernobjects in View, t e raising and lowering the container, moving the vention consistsof the features of construction, Suspended. Container: from P to p d combination and arrangement of parts, hereincontrolling. the; action. of". the. drop: doors of the after: fully described and claimed, referenoe becontainer: from this/"1mm 40 This; means; comprises a sling for controlling the) drop door operating chains or cables 3, and. for raising; lowering. and. shifting the container, and a sling--for,= supporting the: container when in ing had to theaccompanying drawings, in

which:

Fig; 1 is a view in endelevation ofacontainer held Suspended by mylmproved' han'dlmg' means dumping position. The firstamentionedzsling; as:

from Smgle crane m Posmon for transport" shown, is in theiormoffa spreader bar, 9 which is thereby to or P- contamer fastenedto'theg crane line=8 and from: which def ctmelttmnaltytm bemg-fihown' pe-ndlin-eslllprovidedlatz theirlower or free ends Fig. 2..is.a.side elevation of the-suspended conith f ty latchihooksi engagementwith.

5 tainer and. coactingpartsof thehandlin-g. means the eyes.v 5 f th door operating cables 3 The s w container.- supporting. sling, asshown, comprises Eig- 3v 1s-an.end-.e1evat1on. of; the container as a spreader bar or plate: I12. connected. with the. lowered by the crane to dumping position. crane carriage by. dead lines. l3; andcarrying'a:

Fig. 4 is a view partly insection: and. partly. inv safety, latchhook l4-fo1:,connection;.tothe/eye. I5:

endzeleyation; of; a; construction of; container in' of; a conventional; type: four-branch cable sling:

I6, the lower or free ends of which are provided with safety hooks I! for engagement with the lifting links 6 at the corners of the container. The lines l3 are of such length as to act as 2. limitation means to limit the lowering of the container with respect to the level of the crane and to the ground or floor line and to stop the downward movement of the container at and to prevent it from descending'below a predetermined dumping level. The lines 3 and 8 are not so limited in their downward movement, however, and through their action the opening and closing movements of the doors may be effected when the container is in dumping position.

The operation is as follows:

Assuming that a material for use in an open hearth furnace plant has been shipped in containers of the character described placed in a container car, such a car, indicated at l8, being shown in Fig. 1, it will be understood that when the loaded containers are placed on the car and rested on the floor thereof the weight of each container serves to hold its drop doors, which lie in contact with the car floor, in closed condition against escape of its lading, without the use of fastening means for holding the doors in such condition. Releasable fastening means for holding the doors closed may, however, be employed. Assuming also that the individual containers are to be removed from the car and transported to some certain point or to different points in the plant and dumped, the crane l is employed for this purpose. To this end the crane 1 with the slings applied thereto is brought into position so that the hooks of the slings may be engaged with the eyes of the door operating cables and lifting links of one of the containers, the crane line 8 being suitably lowered to allow this to be done, the dead lines being of sunicient length to permit the engagement of the safety hooks with the container lifting links 6. The crane line 8 is then raised to lift the engaged container from the car I8. In this operation of lifting the container to the necessary height to clear the car and raise the container to transport level, the sling lines In connected with the spreader bar 9 on the initial part of the upward movement of line 8 will draw upon the cables In to draw the cables 3 taut, thus holding the doors 2 closed against the weight and escape of the lading and forming therethrough a lifting connection between the line 8 and the container I, whereby as the upward movement of the line 8 continues the container will be lifted from the car to the elevated transport position shown by the suspended container in Fig. 1. This upward movement of the line 8 results in the slacking of the cables l3 and i6 which are inactive for container suspending purposes so long as the container is suspended from the crane by the line 8 at this transport level. The suspended container may then be transported by the crane l to the point at which the lading is to be dumped, for example at a point for use in proximity to an open hearth furnace front, as shown in Fig. 3. To effect the dumping of the lading the line 8 is then lowered to a level at which the limitation cables or dead lines l3 and the sling cables I'S are straightened out or rendered taut, whereby the support of the container is transferred to these cables, thus holding the container from further downward movement so that under a continued downward movement of the line 8 the cables 3 will be free for downward movement in their housings under the weight of the doors and the lading resting therein. The doors will thus be allowed to open for the discharge of the lading as shown in Fig. 3. On the discharge of the lading, the line 8 and the cables 3 are again drawn upward, closing the doors, and resulting in an upward movement of the container after the drop doors have closed. This upward movement of the line 8 is continued until the container is raised to transport position, during which the 7 cables l3 and I6 are restored to an inactive and slack condition and the support of the container again fully transferred to line 8 and cables 3 so that the empty container may be transported back to the container car from which it has been removed or to another container car or other point Where it may be loaded, if desired, with a commodity which is to be shipped from the plant.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the drawings, the construction and mode of operation of my improved means for the crane handling of drop bottom containers will be readily understood, and it will be seen that the invention provides a simple, reliable and efficient means whereby a container may be raised, lowered and transported and its doors controlled in operation by the single draft line of a single line crane, such as one of the character referred to, allowing ready handling of such containers in establishments equipped with such cranes without changing the construction of the container, which may also be handled in the ordinary way by two line cranes. While the construction of the means shown herein by way of exemp-lification for carrying the invention into practical effect is preferred, it is of course to be understood that changes in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts may be made within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. Hoisting means for use with a traveling crane carriage having a single draft line, and a container having a body provided with lifting links at the corners thereof, a drop bottom and operating lines connected with said drop bottom, said hoisting means comprising a sling consisting of a spreader, flexible dead lines connecting said spreader on opposite sides of its center with the frame of the crane carriage, and sustaining lines connecting said spreader with the lifting links of the container, said dead and sustaining lines being of fixed length rendered taut when the container is lowered to dumping position to support the container and to be slackened when the container is raised above such position to a higher transport position and thereby rendered ineffective to support the container, and a second sling comprising a spreader arranged at right angles to the first-named spreader and connected with the draft line, and flexible lines connecting said spreader with the drop door operating lines of the container for raising and lowering the container between such dumping position and higher transport position and operating the drop doors when the container is supported in dumping position by the first-named sling.

2. Hoisting means for use with a traveling crane bridge, a traveling crane carriage thereon having a single draft line, and a container having a body, lifting links at the corners of said body, a drop bottom, and'operating lines connected at their lower ends with said drop bottom and provided at their upper ends with coupling eyes, said hoisting means comprising a sling consisting of a spreader of inverted triangular form, flexible dead lines connecting said spreader on opposite sides of its center with the frame of the crane carriage, sustaining lines connected with the lifting links of the container, and a two-part detachable link connection between said sustaining line and the vertex portion of said spreader, said dead and sustaining lines being of fixed length so as to be rendered taut when the container is lowered to dumping position to support the container and to be slackened when the container is raised above such position to a higher transport position and. thereported in dumping position by the first-named 10 sling.

GRAHAM C. WOODRUFF. 

